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Byline: AbScalf Daily Herald Staff Writer

Members sought

The Lake County Camera Club, a chapter of Chicago Area Camera Clubs, invites men and women of all ages who use a camera, professionally or as a hobby, to join. Membership is open to all Lake County residents.

The club meets at 7:30 p.m. the first and third Friday of the month at the Warren Township Center on Washington Street, east of Route 45 in Gurnee.

Dues are $20, but anyone is welcome to attend the club's seminars and demonstrations.

People pick up a camera for different reasons. Some take pictures as professionals, whether the prints will be seen in the newspaper or a wedding album. Others leisurely capture a special event such as a birthday party, a graduation or a friend's visit.

As a boy, Jerry Donohue of Mundelein enjoyed taking snapshots. Although he has never worked as a professional photographer, Donohue said he enjoys taking pictures as a hobby.

Donohue joined the Lake County Camera Club in 1982 because he said he liked to take pictures, but he didn't know how to take a good one.

The Lake County Camera Club offers people who like taking pictures, professionally or as a hobby, to share their knowledge and learn how to make a better photograph.

The primary way camera hobbyists can improve their work is by measuring it against other members' photographs, said Jim Ross, a Gurnee resident and club member for 15 years.

Once a month, members may select their best work and enter the club's photo competition. Unlike other camera clubs, Ross said, the Lake County Camera Club does not restrict what subjects members may use in their photos. Members are welcome to take portraits, scenic photographs and anything else they'd like to shoot.

Ross said judges select the best slides, color and black-and-white prints at the competition. Ribbons are given to the first-place entry and honorable mentions. …